in fulfilment of his word :-" When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee," &c.

On one occasion she was favoured with a most blessed manifestation of the divine glory. Wrapt up in contemplation, she thought she beheld the blessed Redeemer standing as at the gate of heaven, and looking down upon her with a smiling

countenance.

After this she was again greatly harassed by the assaults of the devil. So sore were these attacks at times, that the agonies of her mind were exceedingly distressing. This was the final struggle; the hour and power of darkness. But during the eventful conflict, she many times with much vehemence cried out, "Get thee hence, Satan! for I will worship the Lord my God, and him only will I serve." Earnest prayer was made in her behalf that God would come to her help; and soon she became more calm, her confidence in God was greatly strengthened, and again she triumphed in a present Saviour. Having been visited by a violent fit of coughing, which nearly exhausted her strength, she said, "Dear Lord, thou art good to me; come and release me, if it be thy will."

It now became evident that her end was near. Satan withdrew, a conquered foe; but the last

enemy approached, and the closing struggle drew nigh. Her spirit anticipated the event, and she said, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" At this important period the blood of Jesus was her only boast; hence, in the language of the poet, she said,

"My God, my God, to thee I cry;

Thee only would I know;

Thy purifying blood apply,

And wash me white as snow."

The last day of trial and of suffering had now arrived; the sun was gone down, and gloomy night had drawn her dark curtain over the habitation in which lay this interesting, dying saint. She had not spoken for two hours, and her weeping friends stood around her, anxiously watching the moment when her happy spirit should take its departure; when she opened her eyes, which beamed with holy ecstasy,-sweet index of the heaven within,—and then said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy' precious 'salvation!' Glory! glory! glory! Jesus is smiling! The gates are opening!" Looking round upon her relations and friends for the last time, she thanked them for their kind attentions to her during her affliction; and then, with all her remaining strength, smiling, said in holy triumph, "O

daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh!' Precious beauty!

"There we shall see his face,

And never, never sin ;
There," "

again smiling; and here her strength failed. Shortly after her happy spirit exchanged mortality for eternal life, November 24th, 1819, in the twentieth year of her age.

"How short the span of human life!

Much shorter still the continuance of its joys! In August, the writer of this memoir was a witness of the interesting ceremony which placed this amiable young female in a relation pregnant with promise of future usefulness and happiness; and in the following December beheld her mortal remains conveyed to the hallowed spot where lie the sleeping dead.

"Smitten friends

Are angels sent on errands full of love;

For us they languish, and for us they die;

And shall they languish, shall they die, in vain ?"

Reader,

"How swift the shuttle flies, that weaves thy shroud! ”

"Prepare to meet thy God!"

17

MISS SARAH COOK.

"AND I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried."

JEHOVAH.

MISS SARAH COOK was born at Winterslow in the year 1783; but while she was yet an infant her family removed to West Grimstead, a small village in the neighbourhood of Salisbury. Her parents were industrious; but, being unacquainted with the ways of God themselves, they, of course, paid no attention to the religious culture of their children. Hence it was Sarah's misfortune to have grown up in thoughtlessness,—seldom attending any place of worship, or concerning herself with these matters further than going to church once or twice in a month.

In this state of forgetfulness of God she continued until she had nearly attained her twentyfifth year, when the providence of God brought her to Salisbury. In a short time she was induced to attend the Methodist chapel, when the

plain and heart-searching preaching which she there heard greatly alarmed her; she saw that she had lived without God, in open rebellion against Him, and that if she should die in such a state she should be lost for ever. She read the Scriptures, but found no comfort; there she saw her own condemnation; her guilt increased, her conscience was aroused, and from the bitterness of her spirit she cried out, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" She continued to attend the Methodist ministry, earnestly seeking for mercy in the means of grace. And as her mind became more and more enlightened, she derived encouragement to expect the salvation of God. And while hearing a sermon preached by the Rev. John Keeling, June 15th, 1809, from Hebrews xi. 13, the Lord in mercy "blotted out her sins as a cloud, and her transgressions as a thick cloud," and "shed abroad his love in her heart by the Holy Ghost given unto her," so that she could joyfully sing,

"My God, I am thine !

What a comfort divine,

What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine! "

In this happy frame she continued for a fortnight, walking and talking with God.

Being, one day, in company with the Rev. Mr. Easton, a good old Methodist Preacher, and some